Battle of Metropolis
: "I'm going to make them suffer, Kal. These humans you've adopted, I'm going to take them from you one by one." : ― General Zod to Superman The Battle of Metropolis, also known as the Attack on Metropolis, the Metropolis Crisis, the Black Zero Event and the Incident, was a major battle between the United States Armed Forces, aided by Superman, and the Sword of Rao, led by General Zod, in Metropolis. The battle resulted in an innumerable amount of destruction throughout the city, but Superman neutralised the threat of the Kryptonian invasion by defeating Zod. Background Escape from the Phantom Zone In 2020, Zod and his forces were freed from the Phantom Zone when a Phantom Zone Projector was misplaced and used by the Intergang on the planet Earth. Zod singlehandedly kills the Intergang with his newly acquired powers. Deducing that they’re living under a Yellow Sun, Zod informs his followers that they should seize this opportunity to take control of the planet and establish a new Krypton. They use the Phantom Zone Projector to keep a portal open long enough for them to bring equipment from their ship in the Phantom Zone to Earth. Scientist Jax-Ur reverse engineers the Phantom Zone Projector to create a Phantom Drive capable of opening a larger portal to the Phantom Zone and bringing the Black Zero ship through into Earth’s atmosphere. Zod sends a group to an old Kryptonian outpost to retrieve a World Engine. Zod's Request Zod has also learned of the existence of another Kryptonian, Jor-El’s son. Deeming him a threat to their plans, he broadcasts a message to the world. Deeming him a threat to their plans, Zod broadcasted a message to the world. He promised to withdraw his forces from Earth and will leave peacefully if Kal-El turns himself over within twenty-four hours, threatening to terraform the planet if his demands are ignored. Lex Luthor meets with the United States Armed Forces shortly after the broadcast, planning to help capture Superman and turn him over to Zod. In Metropolis, Superman arrived to handle a hostage situation at a bank in a neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city. Things aren’t all as they seem. The captors turn out to be private contractors hired to incapacitate and capture the Man of Steel. Instead of fighting, Clark agrees to go with the contractors. The private contractors bring Superman to Area 38, a blacksite facility occupied by the United States Armed Forces. Superman is held for questioning by General Calvin Swanwick, Colonel Nathan Hardy, and Dr. Emil Hamilton. However, it is soon revealed that the contractors were hired by multi-billionaire businessman Lex Luthor, who intends to hand Kal-El over to the Kryptonian outlaws. Lex Luthor summons General Zod’s second-in-command Faora-Ul to Area 38, where she takes Superman prisoner. Aboard the Black Zero, Zod introduced himself to Kal-El, claiming to be a close friend of the late Jor-El. Zod informs Superman that he is in possession of the Codex, an ancient Kryptonian artifact holding the genetic attributes to create the perfect being, and offered him a seat on the new council he is building. Preparing for Battle Returning to Area 38, Superman meets with Dr. Hamilton and General Swanwick. He tells them that Zod has double-crossed them and doesn’t intend on leaving peacefully. Swanwick questions how they are going to stop Zod’s forces, and Hamilton theorises that they should be able to open a black hole and send them back to where they came from. However, Hamilton reveals that they would need to have a Phantom Drive collide with the Black Zero for the plan to work. Superman tells them that the pod he arrived on Earth in has a Phantom Drive that they would be able to utilise, and travels with the two to the Fortress of Solitude while Colonel Hardy prepares the Armed Forces for the oncoming battle in Metropolis. After the tussle with Kal-El, General Zod and his forces retreated to the Black Zero, which they positioned above Metropolis, and prepared to activate the gravity beam which would destroy Earth as the World Engine terraformed the planet into New Krypton. Battle of Metropolis Kryptonian Arrival The Black Zero appeared over Metropolis as a World Engine was dispatched to the Indian Ocean, parallel with it on the other side of planet Earth. Both were activated sending gravity pulses through Earth, causing immense destruction to the surrounding area, while increasing the mass and density to the planet. The first blast was powerful enough to shatter windows, lift cars, and destroy airborne vehicles. The following pulses caused most of the damage, lifting objects and people into the air before slamming them into the ground with incredible force. Most of the said objects were then crushed and dissipated. However, Emil Hamilton quickly figured out that this was a terraforming technique turning Earth into Krypton. Fortunately, Superman arrived at the Military Base with the ship that had brought him to Earth and tells them that they can create a singularity to absorb the Black Zero if they can cause the phantom drive in his ship to collide with the one aboard the Black Zero. Nathan Hardy proposes they drop the ship from a C-17, while Superman informs them that he must leave it to them, as he must deal with the World Engine over the Indian Ocean. Retaliation As Superman and the Air Force leave for their targets, General Zod decided to take command of the Genesis Chamber onboard the Black Zero and pilot it away from Metropolis. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne arrived in Metropolis from a helicopter and saw the Black Zero destroying the city. He called his worker, Jack O'Dwyer, to evacuate and the rest of the staff out of the Wayne Financial Building. Superman makes his way to the World Engine and immediately begins to feel the effects of the device's process. Upon his arrival, the World Engine activates its defence mechanism and attacks Superman. Despite Superman's best efforts, he is eventually overwhelmed by the World Engine and is thrown into its gravitational beam. Meanwhile, the United States Air Force makes its first attack against the Black Zero, which proves to be ineffective, as they are unable to penetrate its gravitational field, leading to their missiles, as well as their own air crafts, to be thrown off course into the city, causing even greater destruction, such as collapsing a building. In the Indian Ocean, however, Superman manages to find the strength to rise, despite the force of the World Engine's beam, and fly through it, rupturing it and causing the beam shared by the World Engine and Black Zero to disappear. Destruction of the Black Zero With the World Engine now down, the Air Force proceeds with their attack on the Black Zero, however they hit a setback when Hamilton is unable to activate the Phantom Drive, as the Command Key refuses to go into the slot. They are then attacked by General Zod. Superman intervenes before Zod can shoot down the C-17 and brings his ship down, causing it to crash into the city, bringing down several skyscrapers in the process. Seeing the C-17 approaching, Faora leaves the Black Zero and boards the C-17, beginning to kill everyone on board. Hardy leads her away while Hamilton manages to resolve the setback and activate the Phantom Drive. Hardy sets the C-17 directly at the Black Zero, creating the singularity and sucking both ships into the Phantom Zone. Showdown with General Zod Upon landing, Superman notices that General Zod has emerged from the wreckage of the Genesis Chamber and flies to confront him. Zod, enraged at Superman for preventing him from carrying out his mission, lunges at him, swearing to wipe out all of humanity. Superman vows to stop him and the two collide, launching Superman into the Wayne Financial Building. Zod enters, but begins feeling the effects of the yellow sun and releases his heat vision for the first time, shredding through the building until it eventually collapses, killing Jack O'Dwyer and a few others who were still in the building. As Zod fled Superman quickly flew out of the collapsing Wayne Financial Building to pursue Zod. A horrified Bruce Wayne witnessed this particular portion of the aliens' battle from a nearby street, desperately urging his employees to evacuate the building, just as he saw the beams of Zod's heat vision cutting through the upper floor's walls. He was too late, however, as the building had already begun collapsing, but he fearlessly ran right into the falling debris, desperate to try and save someone. Superman flies after Zod, and the two continue to fight. Zod tells Superman that this conflict will only end when one of them is dead. As the two continue to fight, Zod sheds his armour and displays his new found ability of flight. The fight takes the skies all over the city, eventually making it into space. As Bruce was looking for survivors, he found Wallace Keefe trapped under the rubble. He and a few people manage to pull Wallace out of the rubble, but the latter couldn't feel his legs, becoming crippled from the leg down. While tending to Wallace, Bruce found a little girl standing under loose rubble and managed to save her before it collapsed on her. He asked the girl where her mother is, but she pointed to the collapsed building, meaning that her mother was killed inside during the battle. Bruce gave her a hug to comfort her as he looked up to the sky and witness as the satellite and the two Kryptonians fall out of the sky. Zod manages to bring the fight back to Metropolis after throwing a Wayne Enterprises Satellite at Superman. The two re-enter Earth's atmosphere and land in the train station, where Superman manages to get Zod in a hold. Refusing to accept defeat, Zod tries to incinerate a nearby family with his heat vision. Superman tries to convince Zod to stop and that he could live peacefully amongst the humans as he has, but Zod refuses. Eventually, he is able to overpower Zod and holds him back long enough for the family to escape. Superman notices a Phantom Zone Projector that must've fallen from the Black Zero when the black hole opened and attempts to reach for it. Superman and General Zod fight for possession of the Phantom Zone Projector, and eventually Superman is able to take control. Saying goodbye to Zod and telling him that he wishes things had worked out better between the last of the Kryptonians, Superman banishes Zod to the Phantom Zone. Aftermath In the following hours, Lex Luthor and Mercy Graves lead a clean up crew into Metropolis Central Station. Lex informs Mercy of his plan to collect any leftover Kryptonian technology so that it can be reverse engineered for military use. As he inspects the damage, Lex comes across trails of blood, and he collects a sample within a vial. He then tells Mercy to send a crew to the Indian Ocean as he wants to inspect the World Engine. In order to commemorate all of those fallen in the tragic event, Heroes Park was established on the epicentre of what was left after General Zod's terraformation attack, with a massive silvery statue of the alien hero Superman being built as well, in honour of the extraordinary heroics that he displayed while helping save Earth from the malevolent invading Kryptonians. Months later, Metropolis continues redevelopment due to the efforts of LexCorp. Superman gives a speech at the statue in Heroes Park, reminding the people of those who gave their lives and fought alongside him to stop Zod.Category:Events